27 Days to Go: Rudy Salas

Oct 09, 2024

Who: Rudy Salas

Where: CA-22 (Central Valley mostly north of Bakersfield, including Kings County and parts of Tulare and Kern Counties)

Why: Former California state assembly member Rudy Salas ran for this seat in 2022 but was a casualty of the mini red wave that affected other Democratic House candidates across the state such as Will Rollins and Adam Gray, who are also running again this year. As this district is drawn at present, Biden would have won here by 13 points in 2020.

Salas is running against incumbent Rep. David Valadao, a dairy farmer who is one of only two remaining Republican House members to vote to impeach Trump in 2021 over the former President’s role in the January 6 insurrection. (The other is Rep. Dan Newhouse, WA-04.)

Sadly, Valadao’s voting record in Congress since then has been less courageous. The cost of prescription drugs is one issue where Salas is drawing a distinction between himself and his opponent. More people die of diabetes in Kern County than anywhere else in the state, and yet Valadao voted in 2022 against capping insulin prices at $35 per month. That legislation failed to pass, but a $35 cap for Medicare recipients was included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Valadao also opposed.

There are more registered Democrats in CA-22 than Republicans, but the district, which is 69% Latino, suffers from low voter engagement. To win what is considered one of the most competitive races in the state, Salas will need stronger turnout to overcome Valadao’s incumbency advantage.

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